Chapter 5 #2
Astra nods and lies back on the bed. I don’t want to leave her, but I need to find a healer as soon as possible.
It’s that thought that speeds up my heart but also springs me into action and makes me leave the bedroom, leave Astra. As I step in the hallway, I see a strange figure coming in.
A nymph—out of the water. They rarely do that, rarely reveal that they can spend some time without breathing or that they can sense what happens on the island. It’s a male nymph, his green skin looking almost black in the poorly lit hallway.
King Marlak, he speaks in my head, its voice deep and haunting. I’m the Queen’s healer, and I ask for authorization to see your guest, Azur Sestin.
A healer in the middle of the night. I can’t believe my luck, can’t believe the nymphs are helping us this much. “Sure. Can you see Astra too?”
Astra, yes. And you. But before anything, I’ll need some time alone with him.
Hopefully Azur won’t throw a fit because a nymph wants to heal him. I find Azur in one of the bedrooms, and before even entering, I can sense death looming and smell blood in the air. Lidiane, Ferer, and Ziven are standing around the bed as if it was a funeral.
“There’s a healer here. For Azur,” I say. My tone is so grave that it surprises me.
They turn to me, Lidiane’s eyes misty with tears.
I continue, “He needs to be alone with his patient, so…”
Azur extends a hand and holds Lidiane’s. “Don’t go. It’s pointless.”
There’s so much pain in his voice, regret perhaps. He sounds like a completely different fae than the Azur I know—or thought I knew.
Alone, the Nymph insists, and I think Lidiane hears him too, as she gets up and says, “I’ll be right back.”
Azur watches her as she leaves the room in quick steps, after Ziven and Ferer. The nymph walks in and I close the door, strangely worried about Azur’s fate.
I head to the kitchen, where Renel’s still sitting by himself, Ziven’s standing, and Ferer and his sister are sitting at another table.
I sit by Lidiane and tell her, “If it was a lost case, the nymphs wouldn’t have sent a healer.”
She nods. “I guess.” Nothing in her tone or demeanor suggests she believes Azur has any chance of surviving.
I don’t know what to say, don’t know what she and Azur are, don’t even know if I approve of whatever they have, and yet I can’t stand seeing her so sad.
“Truly, Lidiane.” Then I lower my voice. “It’s a big deal that they’re revealing themselves.”
It’s only then that I wonder why they would do that for Azur, but it could be because of Lidiane or even Astra.
She gives me a tight-lipped smile. Meanwhile, Ziven sits by Renel, who remains silent.
I remember then that Azur’s my brother’s friend, and approach their table.
“He’ll be all right.” For some reason I almost choke, as if for a moment my fae heritage got in the way of voicing words I’m not certain are true.
Renel runs his fingers over his bracelets and stares at his wrists. “Azur? Good for him.” He finally turns to me. “And Tarlia? What am I going to do about her?”
I hate that I don’t have an answer for that, that I don’t have any solution. “We’ll figure it out.”
He shakes his head. “I have to figure it out.”
“She’s Astra’s friend. I want to save her too.”
“What about Tarlia?” Astra’s voice comes from the hallway, then she steps into the circle of light coming from the lightstone. “What’s wrong with her? Where is she?”
I’m stunned that she’s up again, and rush to her side. “You should rest,” I whisper.
“No. What’s happening to Tarlia?” she asks again.
“Zorwal,” Renel says, then looks down.
Astra’s face is blank. Right. I suppose she doesn’t even know who he is.
Lidiane gets up. “Listen, all of us are going to have to sit down, tell our stories, take notes, and compare them. I suggest we do it when everyone can get together, either tomorrow morning or tonight, but after the healer…” Her voice cracks.
I nod. We’re all waiting to hear about Azur’s fate.
Astra stands by me and I hold her hand, then she asks, “Is Tarlia in danger?” I suppose it was worry for her friend that got her out of bed.
“Not immediately. But she’s sworn her life to Zorwal.” I point at Renel, then Lidiane. “They know more about him. She’s right that we have a lot to discuss.”
She leans in close and I pull her for a hug, feeling my heart beating fast with so many emotions at the same time. I’m relieved that Astra’s here, and yet that severed head and the threat in the Shadow Lands haunt my thoughts while my sister’s hateful eyes disturb my mind. What happened to her?
I hold onto Astra, still barely believing she’s here, barely believing she survived, and yet my heart still beats fast, fast, fast, overcome with dread.
Astra turns to the hallway and I see the nymph healer coming into the kitchen.
“I was able to stop the bleeding and heal the physical wounds,” he says in the same voice he spoke in my mind, but in a graver tone. I’m surprised that the nymphs can speak.
“But?” Lidiane’s question sounds as if coming from a strangled throat.
The healer glides closer to us. “I did all I could, but now… It’s beyond my skills. Azur has magical poisoning.” He pauses, and I’m not sure if he’s trying to give us time to digest his words or to torment us with anxiety.
Lidiane has her eyes fixed on the nymph, waiting for his conclusion.
Finally, he continues, “Of the worst kind. In a matter of days, perhaps a couple of weeks at most, he’ll become a bloodpuppet and serve whoever stabbed him.”
His words hit me like an ice shard.
Shit.
Azur will become a weapon of the Witch King himself? I still have my arms around Astra and hold her tight, perhaps selfishly relieved that she’s not about to face the same fate.
The healer continues, his tone chilling, ominous.
“If you do not find a cure, your only solution is to stop that from happening by any means you can.” I can feel a wave of melancholy through the kitchen as everyone stares at the nymph wide-eyed, then he says, “Pay attention to his hands. Once they’re completely white, he’s gone.
Then it’s just a matter of hours. Try to heal him, but if there’s no way, there’s no way. For now, you must not touch him.”
“We touched him.” My chest squeezes my heart thinking about Astra.
The healer blinks with his strange, enormous eyes. “I’ll examine those of you who touched him, and see if the same fate afflicts you. Meanwhile, there’s no danger in breathing the same air he breathes or staying close to him. Just don’t touch his skin.”
He extends two long fingers and calls Astra, who follows him down the hallway. Astra, who drank the Witch King’s and Azur’s blood. I feel cold all over, my body trembling in agonizing terror. I follow them and wait outside the bedroom, hoping she’s not poisoned like Azur.
If she is, I’ll turn the world upside down to save her. I don’t know what I will not do.
I lean my hand on the stone wall of the hallway as if I could lean my heart, give it some rest. My chest could explode right now and it still won’t save her. A layer of ice reaches my hand.
Ice, ice, ice.
As if freezing the house and the island and the stars would help.
ASTRA
Soft moonlight comes through the window, illuminating Marlak’s hair, face, arms. I’m leaning on his chest, its steady movement soothing, relaxing, his embrace a mantle of love protecting me as I feel his fingers still digging into my hair in a soft caress.
Brilliant sunlight comes through the window, but I’m alone in bed. His bed. His bedroom.
No. I suppose it’s our bedroom now. And the embrace was no dream.
And then I remember.
The bloody head, drinking from it, the castle, the heart. So much. And then Azur, Lidiane, and that awful magic poisoning. And then the nymph healer.
Don’t be ashamed of what you are, he said in my head. I don’t recall what I replied. All I remember was that he told me I had no magic poisoning. The rest was a blur. Maybe I vaguely recall puking more of that blood, then washing, Marlak helping me, holding me, then placing me in this bed.
Quick steps sound in the hallway, and Marlak rushes into the room.
“I didn’t want to leave you alone, but I had to—”
“It’s fine.” I sit up in bed. “How’s Lidiane? You?”
“Clear.” He exhales slowly and sits by me. “Azur’s the only one…” His eyes meet mine, worry spelled on them.
“How long have I slept?”
“Not that much. Everyone but Azur just woke up.”
He runs a finger through my hair, then leans in for a kiss and I almost recoil, still disgusted with myself, but then I remember washing my face, my teeth, my mouth, my body, my hair. I wish all that washing would wipe away the memory of that disgusting blood.
And yet perhaps Marlak’s kiss is the trick, his soft lips a balm to my heart as I close my eyes and allow myself to be taken by the amazing feeling of his proximity.
I can feel his fire, even in a kiss. Everything about him is fiery, an odd fire that heals instead of burning, an odd fire that he keeps buried within his layers and layers of ice.
We part the kiss and he leans his forehead against mine, then asks, “How are you feeling?”
“Still disgusted, to be honest.” I lean away from him and look into his eyes. “But worried, mostly.” My chest feels something akin to nausea when I consider the Witch King and the danger threatening us. “We need to plan.”
He runs a finger on my cheek. “Rest, Astra.”
“No. You said everyone’s awake? We need to talk, discuss, think.” I look down at myself and realize I’m wearing one of those indecent, transparent nightgowns, except that it’s not so indecent because I’m wearing a breastband. “I just need to get dressed.”
Marlak gets up from the bed and walks to a clothes rack by the corner. Not only his clothes are there, but mine too.
“What do you want?” he asks.
“Anything that’s not transparent.”
He tosses me a pair of black trousers and a dark blue silk shirt, then turns around.
I toss the nightgown and chuckle. “Why so prudish now? You’ve seen me before.”
He’s still looking at the wall, and yet I can sense that he’s raising an eyebrow. “Do you want me to forget the Witch King and everything that’s happening? I’ll stay in this bedroom with you forever.”
I’m putting on the trousers as I say, “Well, I’ll love that. Once this is over.”
If this is over comes to my mind, an awful wave of doubt and fear, a dread deep in my bones telling me to seize the moment while I can, appreciate this last respite before doom.
But no, I have to trust that we’ll fix everything, we’ll find a solution.
The nymphs trust me, and even the giants do—even if they took Nelsin. It can’t be for nothing.
I put on the blouse, then get up and hug him from behind, feeling so small leaning my head against his back.
“I’m ready. Let’s plan.”
He turns around and holds me close, resting his chin on the top of my head, just like in one of my first clear dreams of him.
I want to linger in this moment, in this dreamlike feel, and at the same time, I want to plan and find a way to save Tarlia and Marlak’s sister, bring back Nelsin, save Azur, save everyone.
I step away from him and look into his magnificent eyes. “It’s time to get answers.”
“It is.” He kisses me briefly on the cheek.
Is it possible to find an answer, a solution, by thinking hard enough? Can we work together and find a way out of the doom awaiting us?